1-in-5 WAG scripts filled electronically in October

DEERFIELD, Ill. —Breaking its own record, Walgreens said it filled 4 million prescriptions electronically in October. That represents about 22% of all eligible prescriptions filled at the drug store chain, and a 185% increase compared with October of last year. Walgreens estimated it would fill more than 45 million electronic prescriptions in 2009, compared with 15 million filled in 2008.

Walgreens has been e-prescribing-enabled since 1992. Company officials said the chain, which operates more than 7,000 drug stores in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, will continue to shift more of its prescriptions into a paperless format with help from financial incentives in the federal stimulus package, which encourage hospitals, doctors and others to adopt electronic health records, a core component of which is e-prescribing.

”With the federal stimulus package providing $19 billion in incentives to adopt electronic health records, doctors will gain easier access to software that makes electronic prescribing possible,” said Don Huonker, Walgreens’ SVP healthcare innovation.

“Continued growth in e-prescribing will help meet the goals of healthcare reform,” Huonker added. “In addition to lowering costs for doctors and pharmacies, electronic prescribing makes it more likely that patients will get their prescriptions filled, benefit from their drug therapy and avoid more expensive medical procedures.”

“E-prescribing also reduces the medication errors and adverse drug events that cost the healthcare system billions of dollars per year,” he noted. “And by eliminating the need to call a doctor’s office to verify a prescription, e-prescribing provides pharmacists more time to focus on drug interactions, the right dosing and patient consultation.”